Cameron Rhode: 24 Half-Siblings. How, Why and so much More!

In this episode, Cameron Rhode shares his extraordinary journey of discovering his identity through the revelation of having 24-25 half-siblings, all stemming from his mother's use of an anonymous sperm donor. He reflects on the impact of growing up without a father figure, the close bond he shared with his mother, and how music played a significant role in their relationship. Cameron's passion for women's sports led him to become an owner of a women's football team in Atlanta, showcasing his commitment to promoting women's athletics. He expresses optimism for the future of women's sports and emphasizes the importance of personal connections and shared experiences in shaping one's identity.

Takeaways

• Cameron discovered he has 24-25 half-siblings through Ancestry DNA.
• His mother was a single parent who used a sperm donor.
• Cameron has a close bond with his mother, who passed away in 2021.
• He became a fan of women's sports in 2019, starting with the WNBA.
• Cameron owns a women's football team in Atlanta, marking a significant achievement.
• He values the community and culture in women's sports compared to men's.
• Cameron has a passion for music, having played piano since age five.
• He emphasizes the importance of education and tutoring in his life.
• Cameron is optimistic about the future of women's sports and its growth.
• He believes in the power of personal connections and shared experiences.

Transcript

Speaker 01: 0:00

All right, folks, welcome back to another episode. Today I have with me Cameron Rode. Cameron, this is going to be just such a special episode. Thanks for joining us. Folks, 22 half siblings. And when I first heard that, I tried to figure out the calculation and I couldn't.

Speaker 00: 0:19

I think the count is actually higher. Oh, it is? Just that we know of. Yeah, I think it's like 24 or 25, just that we know of. Yeah. I forget the count, but it's, yeah, it's something around there.

Speaker 01: 0:32

Which is even cooler, right? Which makes the story even just that much more incredible. But I went home and I asked my wife, how could that be? And I, of course, I knew the answer. I asked her and she couldn't necessarily wrap her brain around it. That's what we're going to do today. But there's a whole other side of this, right? That's an incredible story. That's a unicorn story in and of itself. But Man, when Jack introduced the two of us on a text and told me what you're up to in your professional life, you talk about a unicorn story. Oh my goodness. Women's football first off, I really didn't even know was a thing. And then You own a team. And I'm like, oh my goodness. I hope he commits to coming on to an episode.

Speaker 00: 1:18

Thank you. Thank you for inviting

Speaker 01: 1:20

me. The only trouble we're going to have today is cutting this down to a reasonable amount of time because I have about a thousand questions for you. So let's get right into it. Tell us. One of 24. Tell me this story.

Speaker 00: 1:35

Yeah. So, um, my mom had me on her own and I was an only child or thought I was an only child. Um, and so she, she always shared with me, um, that my father was an anonymous sperm donor. That was never a secret. Um, I don't even remember. I don't have a memory of her telling me cause I just like for as long as I can remember, I've, I've known that. Um, so she always shared that with me. Um, And we had, like, a 10-page packet of information about him, but not his name. Not his name, obviously. So he liked Sport X. He played Instrument Y. His grandfather on his father's side passed away at this age of that, and his grandfather on his mother's side. So, like, all kinds of details. Yeah. And then my mom passed away in 2021. And then in 2024, it was a gift from my Uncle Andy, an Ancestry DNA test kit thing. And so I did that. And then this past Christmas Day, somebody sent me a message on the Ancestry platform saying, hey, I think I'm your half-sister. And then... Next thing I know, I'm in a Facebook group chat with like a dozen of us. And then there's more of us who are not in the Facebook group chat. So it's, yeah, it just, when it started happening, it happened kind of fast, but I'm really excited. I'm grateful. And so, and now I always forget, when I tell this story, it takes me a little while to remember to tell the part about now I know who our father is because they know. So I found out through them. Um, it's like a big puzzle. Some of us run ancestry. Some of us are on 23 and me, I only did ancestry. Um, I guess so far, but, uh, yeah, one of our, one of us, one of us have siblings matched with, um, his sister on, on 23 and me from what I remember. And, uh, that's how they, they figured out who, but what, so I haven't reached down to him. I haven't, I haven't talked to him.

Unknown: 3:51

Yeah.

Speaker 01: 3:51

Do you know if there's like a mathematical cap? Can this end at like 25 to 27? I don't even know. I'm asking. I have no idea. I

Speaker 00: 4:01

mean, can it be 100? Who knows? People keep recommending to me this movie that I have not seen yet. People keep recommending to me this movie. They're like, oh, there's this movie with Vince Vaughn and he has like a million kids. So I haven't seen it yet. I'll probably get around to seeing that at some point. But it's kind of like this. Right.

Speaker 01: 4:21

Incredible. Do you look, sound, feel any of that? Do you see similarities in anybody?

Speaker 00: 4:29

Yeah, I'm Facebook friends with a small handful of them, and I haven't Facebook stalked all of them, but there's one picture that I saw, like a childhood picture, where I was like, oh my gosh, that looks just like me. But a lot of them, I don't see the resemblance, and especially I think the girls, it's harder. the girls don't even really look like the father, which I guess you could say kind of makes sense. But then I feel like a lot of times, like parents look like their kids, regardless of, of gender. But, but yeah, there's, yeah. The one I've talked to by phone, she was talking about how I think it was one of her parents, one of her. Yeah. one of her, um, was saying like that our, that our closed mouth smiles are similar. Um, and I was like, yeah, I can, I can kind of see that. Um, so, but, but yeah, I think, I think some of us guys look like our father. Well, now I think me especially, like, it's really weird. Now when I look in the mirror, I see his face. You do. Yeah. So, my mom always said that she thought that I looked like her. Um, and I think that may have been maybe partly like she wanted to believe that like, Oh, this is my kid. It was just the two of us growing up. It was like me, her and the cat. So, um, I think that might've been part of it now in her defense, to be fair. If you look at childhood pictures of me and childhood pictures of her, it's a dead ringer. Like, look just alike. Um, but as an adult, I never really saw it. Um, but, uh, but yeah, now that I know what he looks like, it's weird. Like I look in reflections and I'm like, yeah, that's, that's his face. Is that a

Speaker 01: 6:30

positive thing?

Speaker 00: 6:31

Yeah, no. It's, it's, it's weird, but it doesn't, it's not like bad weird. It's just, it's just different. I mean, you know, you live 30 years, um, without knowing what he looks like. Um, And, yeah, it's just interesting.

Speaker 01: 6:48

Yeah. Did, like, what was the story that you knew growing up? Or was it just never talked about at all? What do you mean? Like, what did your mom tell you the first

Speaker 00: 6:58

time you ever met her? Well, she didn't, she didn't, he was anonymous, like, it's part of the system. Like, she didn't know, she didn't know who he was either.

Speaker 01: 7:07

Oh,

Speaker 00: 7:07

I didn't even know that. Yeah, so we had, like, packet of information it's done through like a sperm bank and in shoes you know so I was born in 94 so conceived in 93 so this was like a time when maybe it wasn't as popular as it is now I don't have data on that but like when she had a kid on her own apparently now I have to think of Murphy Brown is that the name of the character or the show or both is Candace Bergen and but she, but she, she told me that she had people saying to her, Oh, you're doing the whole Murphy Brown thing. So I guess just like having a kid on your own, I don't know if that involves the sperm donor, but, um, yeah. So, um, it's probably, it's probably gotten more popular over the last few decades or at the very least less, uh, less socially weird or, you know, more, more socially acceptable or kind of like more normalized, I guess. Um, but, uh, But yeah, no, it's like, from what I understand, it's like a catalog. You know, you pick out, you know, who you want. And again, it's totally anonymous. You know, it's not like she knew who you were. We had information, information about hair color and, you know, like family's medical history, but not, no, she wouldn't have known the identity of the person.

Speaker 01: 8:32

When you first found out, The very moment you first found out, what would you say is your

Speaker 00: 8:38

first reaction? First found out that I had the half siblings or found out who my dad was?

Speaker 01: 8:45

Let's look at

Speaker 00: 8:46

both, actually. Yeah, and they're really, I mean, they're basically the same point in time when you think, I mean, yeah, I got that message Christmas Day. I was just excited just to have one. I was just excited. Oh my gosh. To have like one, right. One half sibling and then to have 20 something. Yeah. So then I was added to that group chat, I guess a few days later and then looking through those messages. Cause I'm just the latest to find out. It's not like we all found each other all at the same time. The one who found me was the second most recent to find out. so the one right before. Yeah. So it's kind of, it's like a chain. Um, but, uh, but yeah, when I, when I like found out his identity, saw his face, I was like, yeah, I can, I can see the resemblance. It didn't, it was, it was weird. It was cool, but it didn't, it didn't freak me out. None of this ever gave me like, you know, anxiety or, um, it was, yeah, I just,

Speaker 01: 9:54

it's

Speaker 00: 9:54

a cool thing.

Speaker 01: 9:55

It's not a bad thing at all. It's, it's, it's, It's cool.

Speaker 00: 10:00

But I can also understand where people are coming from if it does weird them out. If it does give them a little anxiety. Because people have different stories. And I'm not going to... I'm being careful to tell as much about me as I want. That's fine. But keeping their stuff private. But not everybody... necessarily knew all their lives like i did right that their biological father was an anonymous sperm donor so um yeah we just have different different experiences uh different kind of paths that we took to to get here i'll say that

Speaker 01: 10:49

did you have anybody in your life that was a father figure or close to a father figure

Speaker 00: 10:55

um when i was maybe like seven or nine or so. Um, we did this for a couple of years. There was like a program, um, where they would kind of like match you with like a, almost like a pretend father, um, just to like hang out with and, um, yeah. And so this was when I was living in Georgia. Um, there was a guy who, you know, we, we like, play tennis or whatever, you know, we just, just occasionally, like not necessarily every weekend, but, um, they matched you based on like a questionnaire or I vaguely remember, um, you know, something like that. So, um, yeah, I stuck with that for maybe, maybe a couple of years. Um, so there was, there was something like that, but I don't know. Um, I mean, that was a male adult I hung out with, but I don't know if he's necessarily counted as a father figure. Not really. Yeah, I don't think so.

Speaker 01: 12:10

Yeah,

Speaker 00: 12:10

totally

Speaker 01: 12:12

fine. Okay, so you've got plenty of friends, and those friends have mixed... home lives some may be divorced some may have mother father some biological some not biological do you notice any kind of difference in in like let's just use men like men your age do you see any difference with somebody who's had a dad versus not had a dad versus any of the other

Speaker 00: 12:38

i don't i don't know if i would notice well and something that my mom asked me once or twice She said, if you would, would you rather have had a father or a sibling? And I said, sibling, because not having a dad, you don't really know what you're missing. Like, I didn't, I didn't crave that presence. Like, it's just kind of normal. Like you, if you only ever have one parent, it's like, okay. But like a sibling would have been cool. So, I mean, I guess you could kind of say the same thing. You don't really know what you're missing. But yeah, she asked me that once or twice. Like, would you rather have had a father or a sibling? And I said sibling. Wow. Now, what I really wanted was a twin. I'm always jealous of people who are twins. Now, of course, there's no guarantee that the person would be just like me, but I'm an extrovert, so I'm really jealous of people who are especially identical twins. I'm just, yeah, I'm jealous. And sometimes they're like, it's okay, you can have mine. I know that's like, you know, stuff. You can take my sibling. I know it's a common response. common response.

Speaker 01: 13:57

, but yeah. So you didn't ever have to get into a narrative, like at sleepovers did anybody ever say where's your dad I don't think so I

Speaker 00: 14:11

mean a little bit when I was when I was a young kid like other you know I feel like I have vague memories of one or two kids asking like like how are you born if you don't have a dad you know but it's not it wasn't anything that I was made fun of for or wasn't really anything negative that persisted um yeah I don't I don't, I don't, yeah, I don't remember a lot of that.

Speaker 01: 14:38

Yeah. That makes sense. If I say the word father right now, what is, that gives off such a different feeling depending on who you ask. What feeling does it give off for you?

Speaker 00: 14:51

Um, I don't know. It doesn't, doesn't really, doesn't really give me a feeling.

Speaker 01: 14:59

Right. Cause you don't, you don't

Speaker 00: 15:01

know the other side,

Speaker 01: 15:02

right? You only know what you do. Yeah.

Unknown: 15:04

Yeah.

Speaker 01: 15:05

Plenty of people would be better off had they not had a father than the father that they did have. That's true. Because so much more damage and wreckage and all the other stuff. That's true. Yeah, it's cool. Is the mission going forward for you to continue to reconnect with siblings?

Speaker 00: 15:25

Yeah, I would like to. I've talked to one of them by phone. She and I were kind of trying to get a Zoom together. um, earlier this year. So, um, nothing's really come of that. And of course I don't feel a need for it to be like, it doesn't have to be like everybody, you know, it's not like to find a time where everybody can get, um, but yeah, even if it's just like, you know, three or four of us, I feel like that would be cool. But, um, no, nothing's, nothing's come to that yet. But, uh, but yeah, no, I, I'm definitely, I'm definitely interested in that. Um, yeah.

Speaker 01: 16:01

What about with, what about with, The dad. Yeah. So you know him. You know him by name.

Speaker 00: 16:09

I know who he is. Haven't reached out. So from what we understand. It was. This was before I joined the party, so to speak. One of us apparently matched with his sister on 23andMe. And the sister was like, don't reach out. Like he was really young when he donated. And so I don't. I don't really know what, I don't know how much he knows. Um, he, he has a couple of kids of his own, uh, like regular kids, so to speak. So, um, we don't, I don't know if we know how much he knows or how much he wants to know, like does his wife know or how much does his, so we just, we kind of coordinate, um, In the group chat, we kind of, yeah. So I'm not in a hurry to go rogue, so to speak. I'm not in a hurry to go off script.

Speaker 01: 17:21

What would it be if you got him? If you have one question to ask him, what do you ask him?

Speaker 00: 17:28

I don't even know.

Speaker 01: 17:31

Because it's not bad. It's not like he left you.

Speaker 00: 17:33

oh sure sure sure

Speaker 01: 17:35

like he abandoned you

Speaker 00: 17:37

yeah exactly yeah no it was never it's not anything negative I don't know what I would ask and I don't know what I would ask like if

Speaker 01: 17:45

yeah this is sort of neutral like yeah is there a

Speaker 00: 17:54

day I'd stay quiet and let him ask the question

Speaker 01: 17:58

what do you think he'd ask you

Speaker 00: 18:00

oh That's a good question. Oh my God. I hadn't thought of that. Um, I, yeah, I don't, I don't know. Um, I guess we, I guess what we probably do is probably see like other than visuals, like what we, what we have in common. Um, yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 01: 18:24

You know, or, you know, like the state he lives in. Yeah. You do that, but I do. Yeah.

Speaker 00: 18:29

Yep.

Speaker 01: 18:29

Wow. Yep. That's not like protected information. You can...

Speaker 00: 18:36

Well, if you find the person on Facebook,

Speaker 01: 18:40

it's not. So how did it happen? What are the nuts and bolts? How did you track it all down?

Speaker 00: 18:45

It wasn't me. The group, the siblings found... I guess, like I said, I think one of them just ended up being a... Genetic match with the father sister from what I understand and then right that's how they kind of like followed the trail of breadcrumbs So Yeah, so really the work was done for me. I just joined I'm the latest I'm the latest to join the party join though It was all steady it seems like it's over the last I few years four six years yeah something like that that they've kind of been been doing this and a lot of us are all close in age some of the ones that we aren't connected to are a little bit younger um but but yeah a lot of us are late 20s early 30s yeah

Speaker 01: 19:49

well what was your relationship like with mom growing up

Speaker 00: 19:53

um yeah i mean it was just like i said just the two of us and the cat so we were close um and uh yeah uh it was it was tough um losing her because that's like your only um like like household family um but um i mean she she raised me on really good music And she played Elton John for me when she was pregnant with me. So that's probably where I got into that.

Speaker 01: 20:32

What's your favorite Elton song?

Speaker 00: 20:34

Oh, I don't have a favorite song. It'd be like picking a favorite child. Good try, though. So, yeah, Elton and Yanni were the only two artists that she mentioned specifically, like, as her, like... playlist for me when she was pregnant. Obviously, I've listened to all kinds of stuff once I was born. I don't have a favorite Elton John song, but my favorite Elton John album is Too Low for Zero, 1983. It sounds like the kind of thing that would be a pandemic project, but I started right before the pandemic. I decided I was like, there's like a handful. There's like 20 or so Elton John songs that I know like the back of my hand. I'm like, but there's so much of his stuff that I haven't heard. So I just decided to just listen to all of his studio albums. Um, I didn't go strictly chronologically, but, but for a lot of it I did. And, uh, and I, I, you know, I wish I'd done that sooner, but I'm, I'm glad I did it. And now I've heard all of his studio albums, including the one that was just released in April, um, with Brandi Carlile. But, uh, But yeah, and I made sure not to do it like all at once because I wanted to absorb them, wanted to process so that they wouldn't like bleed together, run together. So it's kind of interesting. Like I can like associate like a certain album with, okay, that's kind of where I was in my life listening to that because it took me, I did it over the course of maybe like four years or so, a little under four years from 2019 to I think 2023. So, um, like I know where I was in my listening when my mom died and, um, and just like associate different things with different albums. So, um, yeah, that was a fun project. And, um, yeah, I'm glad I, I'm glad I did that. Cause now there's all kinds of, cause I mean, his hits are great, but there's a lot of stuff. I mean, there's some stuff that's, that's not very good, but there's a lot of stuff that's, that's really, really great that, that doesn't get played. So he's had a crazy life.

Speaker 01: 22:46

Oh my goodness. Yeah. His movie's hard to watch. Yeah. There's an example of somebody who was done badly, very badly by a father.

Speaker 00: 22:57

True. True. And, and I, uh, the movie's a little bit, you know, it's, it's a good movie. It's a really good movie. I think I've seen it twice. Um, and it, they, it's a little bit fictional, um, or just, you know, to make it, The movie, I guess. But most of the ways through his autobiography, which is also really, really good and really funny. But yeah, no, I agree.

Speaker 01: 23:25

Yeah. So what happened then? Something happened in your life that you're like, I'm going to own a team one day.

Speaker 00: 23:35

No, I would not have thought that.

Speaker 01: 23:38

I mean, that's incredible, the first half of your story. And this is equally as incredible. I just think it's so, so, so cool when Jack introduced us. Well,

Speaker 00: 23:47

it's funny, the football team happened first. Yeah, so 2024 was a big year because I got the football team and a whole bunch of half-siblings. What a year! Yeah, in the same calendar year. Because the half-siblings snuck in right at the end. It was like right before New Year's. But no, I never thought I would. Well, I've been following women's sports since 2019. I started with WNBA in 2019. And what I did was, when I was deciding which team to support, I looked at the 12 ownership groups at the time and looked at where their money went, like what kinds of causes they had donated to, what they did in the community. And that's how I chose the Seattle Storm. I've never been to Seattle, but their ownership group impressed me the most. And I still now have like all kinds of Storm gear, jerseys, hats. There's a Storm flag hanging in my apartment, masks, Storm water bottle.

Speaker 01: 24:53

T-shirts, shorts. And what was it about their team? What were they doing?

Speaker 00: 24:59

The ownership group, you know, I looked at FEC records, Federal Election Commission. It's all public information. So, like, what kinds of politicians they donated to. But also just I saw good press about them, about, like, you know, maybe they did an event or two with Planned Parenthood and just seemed like our values aligned. So, yeah, like a dork, I made a spreadsheet of like, you know, the different ownership groups. And yeah, but I, but I did my homework and came to.

Speaker 01: 25:37

I'd love to see that spreadsheet one

Speaker 00: 25:38

day. I still have it. I still have it. I'm not using it anymore, but I still have it. It's the Yes, actually, yes. It was like around this time, maybe late May or early June. It was like right as the 2019 season was starting. And the way I got into that was I didn't I didn't really follow sports of any kind growing up. I used to be in the camp of I watched the Super Bowl for the commercials. But somebody I met a couple of times, we weren't friends or anything. We weren't close. But somebody who was in grad school at UMBC the same the same time I was, he made it into the G League. So the men's developmental league of the NBA. So I followed his one season in the G League. I didn't even follow the regular men NBA. I followed his G League season really closely. I knew which teams were better and, you know, like, you know, playoff picture. And then after one season of that, I was like, wait, this is silly. I'm following the men's developmental league and there's an entire women's league. They're like top level that I'm not following. And so that's how I got into the WNBA. So kind of a roundabout way. And then the rest is just snowballed. Women's soccer, women's hockey. I'm a season ticket holder with the Washington Spirit. I'm not a big soccer fan per se, but I'm a women's sports fan in general.

Speaker 01: 26:57

Ah, so that's driving it. So the women's is what's driving it.

Speaker 00: 27:03

It's just such a healthier culture. It's a lot of fun in terms of... I feel like the fans are more fun, the owners are more fun, the athletes are more fun. Yeah, it's a different culture, but it's like a breath of fresh air.

Speaker 01: 27:19

So, all right, I go to games, I go to basketball, I go to all these different sport games, but I don't sit in the stands and go, huh, I want to own the team. Right. So... What clicks for you that

Speaker 00: 27:32

goes, I want to own a team? Yeah, I wanted to invest. I'd been looking at investing for a couple of years. And

Speaker 01: 27:41

what age were you when this thought, you wanted to invest? How old were you?

Speaker 00: 27:45

Just within the last couple years, so like late 20s. Okay, so late

Speaker 01: 27:49

20s.

Speaker 00: 27:50

Yeah,

Speaker 01: 27:51

yeah. A lot of late 20-year-olds are thinking about what bar they're going to go to this week.

Speaker 00: 27:55

I'm also thinking about that, too. Speaking of spreadsheets, the WNBA ownership spreadsheet has nothing on my spreadsheet of local live music places, which, frankly, I should have done a lot sooner because what I used to do was I used to have– I used to have a million tabs in my phone browser sorted by location of like, so I live in DC area. So like, okay, Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia, where I have family, family on my mom's side. Then after a while, I was like, I should just make a spreadsheet. Cause it's not just a matter of having a list of places. Cause you don't really need a spreadsheet for that. Some, you know, obviously you have your common days of Fridays and Saturdays to have a lot of live music, but some places will have like Wednesdays or Thursdays occasionally. And I'm like, you know, I have like fear of missing out. So I'm like, I want, so, and there's, I know of like a couple other people locally who make similar lists, but I don't, I don't want to rely on theirs for accuracy. So, um, or completeness, you know what I mean? So, yeah. So I have this even, yeah. Wilder spreadsheet of, of local live music places and okay. Is there information on the website? And, you know, did they do like Facebook or whatever? So, um, so, What made me? Oh yeah. You were saying what, where I think about what bar I would be going to. Yeah. So that, that is also something I, uh, you know, track or put effort into. Um, but yeah, in terms of, yeah, the investing, like I said, yeah, I just, um, I wanted to, I wanted to invest in, um, so the, the WNFC women's national football conference, um, was in touch with them for a few months and they kind of felt me out, make sure was the right fit. And I'm grateful for this opportunity.

Speaker 01: 29:42

Yeah. So you were in Georgia at the time? Nope.

Speaker 00: 29:50

So I was born in D.C., lived in Germantown, Maryland, so like D.C. suburbs, for the first 15 months or so of my life. And then my mom got some kind of big promotion. She was working for Honda at the time. Some kind of big thing. They wanted her to go down to the Atlanta area. Alpharetta. Yeah. Yeah, I lived in Marietta for a couple years as an infant. I don't have memories of that. But then Alpharetta for a few years until I was... So from age one to age 13, I was in suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia.

Speaker 01: 30:21

. How did they pair you? Like you said, you talked to the WFNC or... WNFC, yep. How did they pair you or how did that process happen to know what team you were going to have?

Speaker 00: 30:35

Oh, well... the Atlanta was a good fit because I spent, see I'm only 31. See, if you had just interviewed me a few days ago, I would have gotten to say I was 30. Um, but, uh, yeah, June 1st. Um, I've been jokingly telling people I was scheduled to scheduled to turn 31 June 1st, but I was in another state at the time. So it didn't happen. Um, I was in South Carolina for my cousin's wedding, but, uh, um, yeah. So basically where I was going with that was when you're only 31, um, 12 years is a lot of your life. So if somebody asks me where I'm from, I'll say Gaithersburg, Maryland, because that's where I've been since 2007. But my childhood effectively was in Atlanta suburbs. So when the opportunity was there... for this Atlanta expansion team. I'm not just a sole owner, I'm the first owner. So we're one of the three expansion franchises this year in 2025 of the WNFC. Are you the youngest owner? That's a good question. There is one guy, I think his title is he's the president of one of the other expansion teams. He's like a year or so younger than me.

Unknown: 31:47

Wow.

Speaker 00: 31:47

But he and his mom are the ones in charge of that team. That's Jersey Shore Wave, so another one of the expansion franchises this year. Other than that, I don't know if there's anybody younger than us.

Speaker 01: 32:04

What does that future look like for you? What

Speaker 00: 32:07

are you seeing in that sport? I'm optimistic. I'm excited. It's been a lot of fun. Um, I've been telling people I'm under an NDA, so I can't tell you what I paid for the team. Um, but this new ownership group that's coming, it might be, might be a pair. Um, a couple of guys, uh, who are coming in and now, uh, 2026, there'll be a, another team in California. So that's our expansion franchise for next year. Um, they paid five times what I had to pay. For my team. And they only came in a few months after me. It's not like it's been three years or anything. And I tell people. It's like that everywhere in women's sports. The valuations are spiking. You look at women's soccer. And I swear. Five or six years ago. Those teams were worth two, three, maybe five million dollars. And now the cheapest ones are like 40. And then. Yeah, you have one sold for $100, $150, $200. Angel City FC, which is women's soccer in Los Angeles, sold for $250 million last calendar year. So it's not just speculative. It's not just somebody sitting on the sidelines saying, oh, I think this team is worth, like it's put into practice.

Speaker 01: 33:31

Yeah, deals are happening and sponsors are in there, not little ones either. Yeah. Right? You guys have some big ones.

Speaker 00: 33:39

Yes. WNFC, we have a great, huge partnership with Adidas. I mean, when I went to our owner's conference this past year, I mean, you show up and it was like an Adidas store had thrown up on the place. But at least with an Adidas store, you'd have merchandise spread out so you can see it, but somebody would take off an Adidas jacket and there was an Adidas shirt underneath. But yeah, huge. They're a great partner. And Riddell, so helmets just like they wear in the NFL, All our helmets are Riddell Dove. So they're our body confidence partner. That's

Speaker 01: 34:23

incredible. What's it like? Put me in the stands for a game. What's the feeling? How's it different than other sports?

Speaker 00: 34:32

It's fun. It's a good atmosphere. It'll vary depending on the team for the crowd size. But And so a lot of our teams play in high school stadiums. I think maybe a couple are in college stadiums. Now where the Jersey Shore team plays is really cool because they play in Hinchliffe Stadium, which is a historic stadium, was used for Negro League games. And yeah, that one's really cool. So I've been to their stadium.

Speaker 01: 35:10

And where you guys play where?

Speaker 00: 35:12

we had our first two games at Southern Crescent stadium, um, just outside Atlanta. And then our third home game was at Lithia Springs high school. So, um,

Speaker 01: 35:28

yeah. Awesome. What's, what's next for you? What else you look, you got me looking at other stuff, right?

Speaker 00: 35:36

I have a couple of things in the works. You mean outside of WNFC? Yeah. I have a couple of things in the works. Um, I'll wait until it's final to talk about that. But, um, yeah, no, I'm, I'm, I'm grateful, uh, just for the chance to be, to be looking into this stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's been a lot of fun. I, I didn't, I didn't ever aspire to be a CEO. I didn't. Right. It wasn't like a dream of mine, but, um, but I've been, I've been having fun. I'm grateful, grateful for our staff, our coaches.

Speaker 01: 36:09

Yeah. We're, we're, Where do you like to get educated now? Are you a podcast guy? Are you a hardcover

Speaker 00: 36:15

book? Oh, yeah. I mean, I liked to read all the time as a kid. Nowadays, honestly, a lot of my reading is academic texts because I'm a tutor. That's my main job. So I started there in 2019 also, a small tutoring place. about 15 or 20 minutes walking from where I live, so I really like that. It's a nice commute. It keeps my brain sharp. It ends up being a lot of math, but a lot of what we do is ACT or SAT prep. Kids taking college admissions tests to get into college, but also just they want help with their schoolwork. Math, Spanish, science, whatever they want.

Speaker 01: 36:58

See that? Parents that are listening, you never know what your tutor... You never know who your tutor is. Don't just make assumptions. Your tutor might own a sports team.

Speaker 00: 37:12

I'm

Speaker 01: 37:12

going to guess that that's your thing, but what's your thing? I think you love that tutoring, teaching. Is that your thing, would you say? That Cameron's thing?

Speaker 00: 37:24

Yeah. I'd probably say, I mean, if you, if you made me pick one, I would probably say music. Um, started playing piano when I was five and, and, and still do that. Picked up guitar a little bit. My Guitar playing is very basic, but piano and guitar are my two, my two instruments. Music. Yeah, no, I love, I love math. Um, my bachelor's is in biology and my master's is in biotech, both from UMBC. Um, but yeah, No, I'm grateful to have a job like so that I can walk to and that I that I really like. We're just the one location, not a chain. So my boss is really cool. She's down to earth. And. Yeah.

Speaker 01: 38:03

Yeah. It's awesome, man. I'm so glad Jack put us together.

Speaker 00: 38:08

Yeah. And I can't bring myself to call him Jack because he's Mr. Bucsko. He's my seventh grade Spanish teacher. He was great. I'm also grateful. I've had a lot of. really great teachers over the years. Um, and he's, he's certainly one of them. Um, he would, I've always, and this is something I got from my mom, uh, love of languages, um, not just specific languages, but like kind of how languages work and etymology. And, um, and she, I mean, she had, she had a verb conjugations in French, French verb conjugations taped to the wall of her apartment. Um, so, um, Yeah, I get that from her for sure. But he worked with me, Mr. Bucsko worked with me outside of class, like during lunch, on little linguistics exercises. Like, he was my Spanish teacher, but we would, you know, he had these little exercises where you try to figure out, like, take a completely, like, obscure foreign language, and you'd have to kind of decode, okay, well, based on this context, this means that, so yeah.

Speaker 01: 39:09

Yeah, he's... He's a machine. I think he's up to seven languages now. Fully fluent.

Speaker 00: 39:16

I'd believe it. I don't remember if he told us or if I just forgot. I

Speaker 01: 39:22

would totally believe that. I get to see him all the time. He's a gift. A gift to be around. Such a great guy. Cameron, thank you for your time today. Leave us one one golden nugget here so if there's somebody out there listening who has any kind of inkling but might not know that the next steps if they think oh my goodness now that i know his story that might make sense for me what what do they do

Speaker 00: 39:55

i don't know i don't know if i'm wise enough to have an answer do

Speaker 01: 39:59

they go to that site that you mentioned that 23 site

Speaker 00: 40:04

uh Oh, like the genetic test? Oh, I didn't do 23andMe. I did Ancestry. Okay, Ancestry. Where should they go? Where should they start? I mean, it's certainly... You never know. It's... That's something that... I mean, everybody has a different story. That can open a door, kind of. But if you're... I wasn't sure if you were just talking about like just general advice or,

Speaker 01: 40:37

um, sorry on the, on the genetic side.

Speaker 00: 40:40

Oh yeah. Yeah. No, I, I, uh, yeah, it was, it was a great gift. Um, that was, I mean, I, when I was younger, I figured I might have like three or four half siblings. I wasn't, I wasn't expecting this many. So, um, it's, and I know people raise like privacy concerns and like, okay, what that company can do with your information and stuff, but it's like, It's not like I regret doing this, you know, and not everybody's story is the same, not everybody has the same, um, you know, situation. But, um, but yeah, I mean, I just, I wish I'd done this sooner, uh, figured out. that's awesome. Why

Speaker 01: 41:22

is your name purple? Totally off topic. Why is your name purple when you call me? How did you do that in the settings?

Speaker 00: 41:28

. I'm going to help so many people out right now. Is it through iPhone settings or through the Riverside app? Because I didn't change any settings in your podcast

Speaker 01: 41:39

app. When you call me, you're the only human being, and I have over 3,000 contacts on my phone. When you call me... Yeah.

Speaker 00: 41:47

So I'm going to put it up here. Oh, just like on a regular phone call. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that was deliberate. Yeah, yeah. How do you get your name set to be purple? Yeah, yeah. What'd you do to do it? Somewhere in the settings. I don't know. I love it. I've never seen it once before. I have a really, really good memory. I have a really good memory. But I do not remember the exact combination of menu buttons to press to make that happen. But that's easy enough to figure out. I could

Speaker 01: 42:09

show

Speaker 00: 42:09

you

Speaker 01: 42:09

that. I'm going to post it up here when you do get it. Because now I'm dying to change. I want to change mine. Because it makes you stand out so much. You

Speaker 00: 42:17

go wild. It's so

Speaker 01: 42:18

memorable.

Speaker 00: 42:19

You can change. I think they let you pick from a few fonts. Yeah. Never seen it before.

Speaker 01: 42:27

All right. Thanks for coming on and sharing your story, man. I'm really, really thankful.

Speaker 00: 42:31

Thank you so much,

Speaker 01: 42:32

Jeff. Great to have you. All right. We'll be in touch.

Speaker 00: 42:34

Sounds good.

Speaker 01: 42:35

Thanks.